Reading the New Testament

Didn't get any updates from the family this week!! :( Hope everything is doing good at the Porters!

 

One of our investigators came to church yesterday. His name is Jr. and he is truly is ready for the gospel. The mission was challenged by the Mission President to read the New Testament before the end of the year. I am currently in Acts right now, BUT I have enjoyed so much reading from it. The Savior's earthly ministry was miraculous. He sets the perfect example for us to come unto him and follow in his footsteps.

 

I love you all so much! :) Hope you have a fabulous week!

 

-Sister Porter

How Great Is My Calling!

DADDYY!! I cant believe that this has happened to you :( My heart has ached! Im so so happy to hear that you are doing better though. My prayers have been more fervent than ever and I hope all is well. You have so much strength its unbelievable. Your example has made me strong and will carry me forward. Thank you for being so amazing! I love you so much!

 

So what have you been up to since you have been home for a while? I'm excited for Kylee and basketball! I can't believe it's that season already!! How's the weather? Is it snowing and all that? :) It's hotter than ever here!!! How do people live in this? I feel like I need a break from this heat! haha.

 

I LOVE the Barton family!! They are just so great. We helped them set up Christmas yesterday! haha she's so funny. She reminds me of mom getting so excited before Thanksgiving has already happened. This new transfer has been so wonderful! Me and Sister tuck are working harder than ever and are seeing a lot of success! I just love sharing the gospel. HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING :) We helped this lady paint her house on Saturday. It was some kind of sand paint so it took us a lot longer than we thought it would!! But I decided I'm not to bad at it ;) I love serving.

 

This past week I have realized what a blessing it truly is to be here serving a mission. I love my family so much. You don't see or appreciate what you have until you leave it for so long. MISS and LOVE y'all! Hope your having a great week! GET FEELING BETTER :) lots of love!

 

-Sister Porter  

 

Does anyone have time for Christ anymore?

THOSE BABIES ARE SO PRECIOUS!!! :) Oh they are so big!! Makes me so happy but so sad all at the same time! They are growing in a blink of an eye. So excited for Bay to have her baby :) Dad is deaf in one ear?? That breaks my heart for him. I can't believe that.

 

These week has been full of wonderful things! First I have to share this wild/funny story.  The other day me and Sister Tuck were knocking doors when a young girl probably in her teens answers the door. She is holding a young child in her hand and trying very hard for two giant dogs not to get out. But even with all her might, they squeezed through the door and began running as fast as they could down the street. With in two seconds they were gone! Out of site! She shrieks with fear, puts down the child and starts chasing after them! Me and Sister Tuck had no idea what to do. Probably realizing that she had left the child, she frantically ran back and asked if we could help her. She cried out "Those arent even my dogs, I'M BABYSITTING!" My heart dropped and I then realized we NEEDED to find those dogs. I can't imagine if I was a young girl babysitting and I had lost their (probably expensive) dogs. We began running up and down the streets calling out for the dogs to come. We suddenly stopped and offered a prayer. We knew we could find them with God's help. All while running I kept panting out loud "Heavenly Father PLEASE help us" We told the girl we would get in the car and try and find them that way. So we drove down the street trying to follow the promptings of the holy ghost, and made a left turn on the last street of the neighboorhood. And out of know where we see this lady trying to catch the dogs! We hurry, park the car, run out to try and help her. She asks if they were our dogs and we then explained what had happened. She ran into her house and grabbed us leashes so we could walk them back. I couldnt believe it. What an experience. I knew with out a doubt that god had answered our prayers. AND in the end we walked back to the ladies house to give her back her leash and set up a return appointment with her! amazing :)

 

I love when these things happen. Have I ever told y'all that I love being a missionary? Well...I DOOOO! :) hehe okay another story. So me and sister Tuck go once a week to help this lady in our ward take care of her sister-in- law. Her name is Oma and she lost her voice in January. Her mind also doesn't work the same way anymore so Sister Brown and her husband help her now and its practiacally a full time job for her. So to help her out we come and take care of her so she can go out and get stuff done. We do excercises, read flash cards and go for walks. This past week while we were on our walk Oma cried out in a tiny voice "TIred" She flipped her walker around and sat in it!! hahaha she made us push her back home in her walker. SO funny. 

 

The night before Holloween was the ward party. SO FUN! We get a call from Sister Barton that morning asking if she could get some help decorating! It took a good chunk of time BUT was totally worth it :) It looked great! GO big or GO home right? I love it. OOOHH also, The bartons where the ghost busters! hahaha it was so great.

 

We ended up not doing anything for Holloween. Our mission president wanted us to stay inside our apartments for the night so ....it was a little boring. The last couple of days were kind of hard for me. We did a lot of tracting and we got a lot of doors slammed in our face and rude things said. Finally when another person slammed a door in our face I cried out "doesn't anyone have time for Christ in their life???" I began to cry. This broke my heart. But then I thought about my life before the mission and thought "Did I make time for Christ in my life?" This concept is so important. We must set our priorities to the Lord. Being a disciple of Christ isn't just something we do here and there, its a life style. Its what we do at ALL times and in ALL things and in ALL places. 

 

This really is the icing to finding a future spouce huh! ;) haha that made me laugh. But its very true. I'm greatful that I have done this. It has changed me forever AND my wants and desires for the future are a lot different! The gospel is so important for me to teach my children. This will make such a stronger household! I love my Savior and my famiily :) 

 

MISS and LOVE you guys sooo much. Hope this email finds y'all doing well. 

 

Loves sister Porter :) 

Ps. Thank you again for all that you guys do for me :)  

 

pic 1: This is all the little candy packages we made for everyone :) they all loved it.

pic 2: GHOST BUSTERS!! soo sweet.

pic 3: this is oma in her walker and sister tuck :)

Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

FAMILY! :) First I just wanted to say tttttthhhhaaannnkkkyyyooouuuu sooooooooooooooooooo much for the packages!! OH my goodness it felt like Christmas! haha I really appreciated it. The clothes were perfect and my new garments! yaya feels so nice. How long has dad been in the hospital?? :( tell him I love him with all my heart and I have been praying for him 24/7! AW! Senior night! That is so crazy I feel like that was just me! Your getting so big!;) I heard you got a blanket??? We are matchy matchy! :) You guys doing anything fun for Halloween??  When is bay due?? I cant believe Kodi got her mission call to Maryland!! How exciting! What a wonderful time for her and for her family to send her off to serve the Lord. What an example! :) who's next??...Kylee? ;)

 

OKAY so I don't even know where to begin this week has been SO amazing. Ricardo Ayala was baptized on Saturday and it was such a neat experience. I've never seen him so happy. Baptism is such a magnificent and wonderful act. He has "fulfilled all righteousness" :) and now he has the gift of the Holy Ghost. My testimony has grown and my heart is full. I know the Lord has been with me the whole way. I know Ricardo has found the true church and how cool to see that it will effect not only him but his future generation. Ricardo's family doesn't accept his choice in being baptized but its truly amazing to see that because he had gained a witness of its truth that not even that would stop him from making the right choice. I know one day his family will soften their hearts and see the great joy and everlasting joy that Ricardo NOW has in his life. THE WORK GOES ON! :)

 

Transfers are this week. We got a call this morning from our Zone leader telling us that sister Tuck will be staying in Hewitt one more transfer!! wooo hooo :) So very happy. She has been a fabulous companion and I'm honored and excited to be serving with her for another transfer. We have great goals in mind and we are excited to "Forget ourselves and go to work" :) Its been raining like crazy here the past couple of days! The lightning and thunder is awesome!!! I LOVE IT:) It kind of scary when your driving though because you literally can't see anything. Good thing I know where I'm going...right......The ward is having a Halloween party this week and we get to go and help out. So that will be fun. On Halloween were not allowed to be out working that night so all the missionaries in the area will meet at the church and be doing something....don't know what yet but we will see! Saturday the ward is helping clean up a park in Lorena so that will also be something fun to do. Our mission president has told us that he wants us to be doing 8 hours of service every week!! It kind of hard to find it sometimes because people are stubborn and wont let us help them!! So PLEASE when someone ask if they can help or serve you LET THEM! because I think, If I want people to let me serve them I have to let them serve me as well!

 Sister Tuck stated a quote (I don't remember who it is by) that says "If you don't have time to pray and read your scriptures everyday, than you are busier than god attended you to be." I LOVE THAT. because its true. It is SO important that we do this EVERYDAY! I have had the opportunity to study for two hours every morning for six months and I can honestly say that it has changed my life. I have learned so many things and have never felt so close to Christ. It makes a difference when you do these things daily. So I encourage you guys to always read and pray! LOTS OF BLESSINGS :)

 My heart is filled with JOY. I love my family. You all are the world to me. I miss you lots. Hope all is well. SEND me pictures of senior night and stuff.

pic 1: So for district meeting we dressed up like cowboys and Indians....

pic2: Ricardos Baptism!

pic 3: Ricardo and Brother Morley

PS. I will send more pictures to moms email because I cant remember if this is kylees phone?

PSS. me and sister Tuck got this pumpkin spice ice cream.....SO GOOD....ate it is 24 hours no joke!

Another email the same day:

HAHA this story was amazing. Its cool to have experiences such as this one. How truly amazing is the plan of salvation. This is one of the most powerful things we can share with others around us. God is a God of Miracles. He is the same yesterday today and forever. He is a merciful and loving father who has provided this plan of happiness. I KNOW the reason for my yearning and desire to return to him someday is because I was with him before this life. I was his spirit child :) And I loved him and promised him I would do everything I could during this life to make it back to him one day :) I began to cry when I read that the little kimberly would run up to kylee in heaven someday in her perfect form and thank her for all that she had done. :) what a blessing. what a gift. This sounds like a merciful God to me. Thank you for sharing this story with me. Touched my heart. 

 

How great of week has this been. Ricardo had his interview on Saturday!! He is already for his baptism this Saturday. What a fantastic way to end the transfer! So as you know I gave my talk yesterday it actually went a lot better than I thought ;) It was on "the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion" In the beginning of Alma he is testifying of Christ unto the people. But in verse 45 he says "And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?  46: Behold I say unto you they are made known unto me by the holy spirit of god. Behold I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made the manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me." He did not know of these things by himself. And neither can we. If we want to have the truthfulness of things and a true conversion we must have the witness of the holy ghost tell us these things

.

 In Mosiah, Kind Benjamin was giving his address when he asked his people "what do you think of these things? do you believe the words which I speak? and they answered in verse 2 saying: "And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and aslo, we know of their surety and truth, because of the spirit of the Lord, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts that we have no more disposition to do evil, but do good continually" HOW POWERFUL! I love this :) They said they knew what he spoke was true becuase the spirit told them!! how wonderful that must have been to gain and know the truth because of the burning in their bosom!  Let me ask now, are we truly converted have WE seen that mighty change? Are we doing good continually? Let us have a "full" turning to christ and consecrate ourselves in the sight of God. :) 

 

Our district leader is in the hospital.......So scary. His appendix burst!! He had surgery yesterday morning and is doing good. But how crazy! If I was getting surgery I would want my mommy to be there!!! haha. Transfers are this week!! I pretty for sure I am staying here. BUT I dont know if Sister Tuck will! She has been here for four months now. I'll let you know what happens! 

KODI IS GOING TO MARYLAND!! That is so crazy! can you believe it! how amazing:) I'm so excited for her. How's everyone doing? doing anything fun for Halloween? 

LOVE YOU GUYS! :)  

 

-Sister Porter 

 

picture 1: This is our motivation for working out in the morning! 

Picture 2: Sister Tuck and I saw this awesome pumpkin patch on the way home from a teaching appointment and HAD to take a picture I like this one makes me smile :)  

Sister Missionaries to the Rescue!

HOLA! Sorry I wasn't able to get an email out to ya'll on Monday! The library was closed due to the holiday but because our mission president is amazing he let us come today! :) This past week was full of amazing things! We taught Young Womens last week. It was lots of fun! We took them through a typical day of a missionaries life. We printed of mission calls for each of them to open. The girls were so excited about that they loved it :) It was fun to see their excitement and joy to find out where they would be serving. Reminded me of when I opened my call. What a neat experience for me. In two months it will be whole year from when I did open it. CRAZY! and if my calculations are correct in two weeks from today I will hit my sixth month mark! which means I have a year left! I cannot believe how fast the time is going.

 

Friday night we were out and about when it started down pouring rain!! We booked it to our car but we didn't make it in time to stay dry.  We were soaked! head to toe. Then we got a frantic call from the bike elders in our ward, announcing that Elder Reynolds fell off his bike and thought that he broke his arm. SISTER MISSIONARIES TO THE RESCUE! :) After driving up and down a couple of streets we found them siting on the curb with their bikes. We strapped the bikes to the back of the car and tried to figure out if we should take the poor elder to the ER. It didn't look broken, and he seemed fine so we decided they would just have a member take them in the morning to check it out. Needless to say that next day we found out that he had broken it in two places!! I felt so bad because I didn't think he had broken it. But glad he is ok. And thankful I don't have a broken arm!

 

Yesterday morning we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Pino of the 70 and his wife. We had to be in Fort Worth by nine which meant we had to wake up at five! yay......I'm the driver so while everyone else took a nice little nap I drove for straight two and half hours! haha but that's okay I like driving. They shared some really neat stuff with us! Elder Pino doesn't speak very good English so one of the Elders in the mission translated for him! it was very cool. While he was addressing us he had one of the elders (Elder Foulcher who is my zone leader) come up to the stand to help him do something. He was talking about our missions and how we should live it to the fullest. Then he came to the end of his talk and said it was time to go home. He looked at Elder Foulcher and removed his name tag and set it on the stand. The elder looked down at his name tag trying to fight back the tears. The hairs on my back stood up and I had goose bumps on my arms. Me and sister Tuck began to cry. It made me realize how precious my time truly is. I must appreciate the time I have because it will be gone before I know it. " I am 100 % missionary RIGHT NOW. I will never ever have an experience like this again. Such an eye opener to me.  The mission is not easy. BUT indeed is rewarding. I love that.  It reminds me of the fall of Adam and Eve. They had to experience sorrow to know joy, and darkness to see the light. And same with missionary work, we have to go through the hard times so we can gain a better and more full appreciation for when things do work out. "Salvation is not a cheap experience!"  We must work hard for the good things to come to pass!! :) And I have learned that patience is required in order for this to happen in our investigators life. They have work for this conversion. We must pay a price to win the game.  But indeed this is all possible with our eyes single to the glory of God boasting only in him and no one else.

 

TTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKK YYYYYYYOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU for the package! :) I love it!! soo soo fun. I love Halloween! Me and sister Tuck are gonna make those cupcakes on Halloween and bring them to district meeting. Are ya'll doing anything fun for Halloween? It just still continues to blow my mind that time is going so fast. I'm so grateful for my loving family. :) Ya'll are such a blessing to me. And I know with out a doubt that one of the main reasons why we are so close is because of the gospel. We are centered around Christ. The family is the best place to teach learn and apply the gospel in our lives. We help each other endure to the end by sharing our testimonies with one another and reaching out and helping. By being an example and serving one another. LOVE MY FAMILY!

 

Ayrikas moms name is SUE! :) haha When is bay due? Is it a boy or girl! I don't think ya'll ever told me..... Is Kodi getting her mission call this week? keep me updated. Today it was actually pretty cold outside it hit the 60s! Everyone has on their big jackets and stuff, pretty funny. Ya, its kind of hard to get stuff up here because my area only has Wal-Mart....crazy I know. I can get by with simple stuff like tights and what not but I honestly think it will be cheaper to send up just some of my stuff. I could probably just wait until you send me a Christmas package or what not. Just send up maybe another one of my jackets and some of my long sleeved stuff. And I have a pair of gray boots that I could probably wear. That's about it. I just don't have any warm clothing! haha But Dont worry about it for now I will figure out for sure what I should do. And you don't have to buy new stuff I have TONS of winter clothing. Okay I wear xs on both G's. bottom and top. Thank you so much for getting that for me. Oh and for buying me face stuff too! cause I know how expensive it is so ya. My face looks beautamous now! :)

 

WE are indeed part of our heavenly fathers plan. We help guide it along. Its amazing to think that we chose this plan. I can stand her now and say that "I am a follower of Christ" ...no one told me to be, no one made me be this way. But I chose it. Becuase I know its true and I have felt his love. I love you! missin ya! hope all is well. Have an amazing week!!

-Sister Porter

ps. remember when me you and Kylee would have pizza nights on Mondays? good times! :)

1st pic: This is my zone! lots more elders than sisters! haha crazy.

2nd pic: These are the elders being crazy!

3rd pic: me and sis Tuck getting McFlurries @ mickey D's pretty for sure I have chocolate on  my lip.....

 

 

 

 

Young Women------So much fun!

 

Pancakes For Breakfast Every Day

 

Dear Family,

 

I sit here and think..."How did I get so lucky?" This weekend was extraordinary. Our beloved prophet and other leaders were able to give us ten hours of loving advice and specific instruction on how we can better our lives as members of the church and people of this world. I love that our prophet is not a seer and revelator for just the members of the church but for everyone! His words were loving and kind and I KNOW with all my heart that he is a man of god.

 

All of the missionaries got to ride over to the stake center and watch all the sessions there. It was lots of fun "hangin" with all the elders. In between sessions we all went out to lunch and played card games. Ricardo was able to come to the Saturday afternoon session and with the amazing ability we have to watch on the internet he was able to tune in and watch at home all of the Sunday sessions. During Elder Holland's talk he began to cry. After it was over he looked at us with tears in his face and just smiled. I knew Heavenly Father had touched his heart:)

 

Apparently its pancakes for breakfast everyday this week. haha I guess we were just in the mood. We've been busy busy busy! I gave a training last week in district meeting, will be giving another one in Zone conference tomorrow, me and sister Tuck are teaching the young women about missionary work for mutual, AND I'm giving a talk in church!! PLUS we are just teaching the gospel like crazy. It really awesome.

 

Im so happy to hear that ayrika is doing good!! :) It so fun to see her go through and experience these amazing things. She is gonna do great things for the people in her mission :) Next is Kylee! has she thought about a mission? Sad that the volleyball team is having a hard time. But exhilarating that they won the whole tournament for basketball. Good group of girls. I will pray for you everyday until your surgery! that's so scary :( haha maybe now youll be able to hear huh?:)

 

I will have to share with ya'll some of my notes that I took from conference next Monday because I forgot my journal.

 

LOVE my Savior. LOVE this gospel. LOVE my family :) I pray continually that he will watch over ya'll. Send my love to everyone.

 

-Sister Porter  

PS. Okay, so I might need you guys to send over some winter stuff my way. It still in the 90's during the day but at night its pretty cold! Plus I think its gonna be getting cold soon and I didn't bring anything with me. So I need some of my long sleeve stuff sent over and maybe some tights and a pair of my boots? just let me know what you think? And Maybe an early Christmas present?  I need some more garments.

 

The Work is Progressing!

This is hard work. But anything is possible with Heavenly Father.(Luke) I'm so jealous that it beginning to look like fall up there! It is still in the 90's down here and looks like mid July! haha Apparently there is not too much of a fall here anyways. So that's a bummer because I love the fall! :) Its gonna be weird not being home for the holidays. BUT what a neat experience to be here on a mission right? :) This past week was absolutely amazing! The work is progressing so much. Me and Sister Tuck have found tons of new investigators and have been teaching a lot of lessons! We met a lady named Melissa on Thursday. We told her that we were missionaries and I asked her if we could share a message with her. She willingly said "sure!" I was shocked and became very excited! No slamming the door in our face or "I'm not interested" but instead a sweet desired "sure!"  We began to share the restoration with her, and when I cited the first vision she began to cry. She had felt the spirit during that powerful experience that Joseph Smith had. She said "God will answer my prayer huh?" YES let us not forget that we are daughters of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us. We are destined to achieve great things and he wants to help us by answering our prayers. 

 

Ricardo came to church again!! :) it was fast and testimony meeting and right as the first counselor was going to get up and end the meeting, Ricardo stood up and made his way up to the front. My heart was beating fast and I prayed that everything would go okay. He shared the most deep and powerful testimony I had ever heard.  As soon as he began to testify of Christ the room became silent and the spirit overtook us. I began to cry I was so happy! He looked over at us and thanked us for bringing the gospel into our lives. then he proclaimed that he was ready to become a member of the church and part of this family! I almost fell off my seat! He will be baptized on October 26!! :) It feels nice to see a happy ending to this story! 

So I will be giving a training tomorrow in our district meeting on "How can I benefit MOST from General Conference?" And I thought I would share with ya'll what I will be sharing. :) The first thing that came to my mind was 

 

1. Pick Questions: Specific Questions=Specific Answers! Why is this so important? "Picking out and seeking for questions that are specific for the needs of us and others will help us search more fully and abundantly for those specific answers." 

 

2. Recognize The Spirit: The Holy Ghost works in perfect harmony with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He reveals and teaches us the "truth of all things" (Moroni 10) 

-All honest seekers of the truth can have this confirmation by the spirit. 2 Nephi 32:3 says "Angles speak by the power of the holy ghost, wherefore they speak the words of Christ" If we invite the spirit while we are listening, it will testify of truth! 

 

3. Excitement: Mosiah 18: 11 "And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy and exclaimed THESE ARE THE DESIRES OF OUR HEARTS!" :) These ARE the desire of our hearts! lets us rejoice and be "excited" for our beloved prophet and other leaders of the church speak to us. 

 

4. Pray for Inspiration: D&C 9: 7-9 Why should he tell us these things if we haven't asked of him first. "STUDY IN YOUR MIND"--then ask him--[your bosom shall burn] and you will feel that it is right. +shows our faith and yearning to know. 

 

5. Awesome Note Taking: On Page 18 of Preach My Gospel is says "As you [listen to conference] pay careful attention to the ideas that come to your mind and the feelings that come to your heart" --Write these ideas and feelings down!! They will come to great advantage to you in the future! (Plus we arent going to remember EVERYTHING) 

 

6. Render Yourself: In the fourth Missionary by: Lawerence E. Corbridge, he explains what he calls "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" --"The fourth missionary gives his will to the Lord. He surrenders all of his desires, dreams, ambitions and his wishes to the Lord. In his heart and in his head, he lets go of what he wants to do. He wants to do the Lords will" ----Let us forget ourselves and open our hearts to the council of our leaders. AND thing "What does my Father In heaven want me to learn????" 

 

7. Evaluate and Apply: !! Let us Restudy our notes and take what we have learned and apply it to our work so that we can be effective servants of the Lord.

I know with all my heart that Thomas S. Monson is Gods True and loving prophet!

I dont think I need anything at the moment!! Still wondering what I should do about my pain in my uppper right back. I put Icey hot on it a lot ..... And take some meds to stop the pain. I LOVE MY FAMILY!! :) 

-Sister Porter